Charges against Greenpeace activists 'ludicrous', say Jude Law and Damon Albarn

 
05 Oct 2013, London, England, UK --- London, United Kingdom. 5th October 2013 -- Jude Law and Damon Albarn are pictured at the Greenpeace protest in London in solidarity with the 30 activist charged with piracy in Russia. -- Jude Law, Paul Simonon and Damon Albarn attend the Greenpeace protest outside the Russian embassy in London in support and solidarity with the Arctic 30 (Greenpeace activists) that have now been charged with piracy by Russian State prosecutor. --- Image by © Ik Aldama/Demotix/Corbis
Staff|Agency5 October 2013

Actor Jude Law and musician Damon Albarn condemned charges of piracy against 30 Greenpeace activists following an Arctic oil rig protest as "ludicrous" as they joined worried relatives in a vigil outside the Russian Embassy.

Both men, along with Paul Simonon of the band The Clash, said the arrests were an international disgrace and a personal blow as they are friends with detainee Frank Hewetson.

Law said he was "exercising my right to peacefully protest" as he joined around 800 people at the central London vigil.

It is part of several being held across Britain and in 47 countries in support of the 30 people, including six Britons, who are now in Russian custody. The aim is to keep the pressure on the Russian authorities.

The Russian coast guard seized the ship Arctic Sunrise and everyone on board following the September 18 protest at the offshore platform owned by Russia's state-controlled energy giant Gazprom in the Pechora Sea.

The activists are now in custody in the northern city of Murmansk.

Law, whose children went to school with Mr Hewetson's, said: "I am just adding my face and body to the mass of support.

"The fact that there is a threat of conviction did not put them off.

"What is ludicrous is that they have been charged with piracy which has a threat of 15 years in prison.

"Of course I am worried about Frank because I care about his family and I care about him but I know that he is incredibly durable.

"I think that it is very interesting that the people over there probably knew there would be an arrest involved and the threat of a conviction is probably part and parcel of the act of drawing attention to the drilling in the Arctic which we all know is an international problem which needs confronting."

Protesters stood quietly behind banners declaring "Free the Climate Defenders", "Journalist and Not Pirate" and "Free The Arctic 30".

British freelance videographer Kieron Bryan and UK activists Mr Hewetson, Philip Ball, Alexandra Harris, Anthony Perrett and Iain Rogers have been charged over the protest.

To charge them with piracy is "ridiculous", Albarn said.

"It does seem to be a slightly different idea in Russia's collective head about what activism actually represents.

"Nine times out of 10 people who protest peacefully, whether it is through music or through trying to scale oil rigs, are doing it because they believe they are saying something that will ultimately benefit society as a whole.

"You have to remember that when the Russian government talks with this kind of rhetoric, it is actually being anti-humanitarian. And that is a shame because we put people in power to look after us presumably, but unfortunately rarely do they."

He went on: "I want to express my support for Frank, his family and all the other families because at the end of the day this is a very human thing.

"There are people who are terribly worried about their loved ones.

"Everyone is concerned because it is Russia and they have a very bad record of bowing to international pressure.

"They need to understand that these people are not a threat. This is something that is very human. It is not a political issue."

Simonon said: "This is a protest to show support. There is no reason why it could have been called piracy. "I am here to show my support to Greenpeace and the families."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in